Shakespeare Workshop

Ah, William Shakespeare, the bard of Avon, great Renaissance playwright, read and revered across the world. But let’s admit he can be quite challenging, too – all that sixteenth and seventeenth-century English, all those kings and dukes and princes – not to mention witches, ghosts and fairies. So what’s the best way to get into all that gorgeous poetry and strange stories, flying past us on stage or screen?

Introduction to Shakespeare is a ninety-minute workshop course designed to help you approach Shakespeare with confidence. Maybe you’re planning on watching a streamed production, maybe you’ve seen Hamnet and would like to know how much of that was real. Whatever your reason for joining, there will be something for you. We’ll look at the great poet’s life and times, explore how a Renaissance theatre worked (what’s all that about boys playing women?), how characters are created, what kinds of things we should look out for in the different kinds of play – tragedies, comedies and histories, and how the plays have survived to our own time.  But above all we will look through bite-sized examples at the verse itself, and bring it alive through speaking it, feeling it, living it. All participants will be invited to take part in reading and discussion. As we’ll see, beneath the often elaboratelanguage there are often quite simple ideas going on. We’ll learn to X-ray in on those and hopefully you’ll leave convinced that, yes, Shakespeare really is that great, and entertaining too! When you sign up, you’ll receive a selection of extracts to read ahead, and after the workshop, you’ll be sent a copy of the points we covered and suggestions for further reading, viewing and listening. No previous experience necessary, costumes optional!